Diving Sipadan from Mabul: Borneo Divers 5D4N Guide
I recently went diving at Sipadan Island.
In this guide to diving Sipadan Island I will discuss my experience, provide up to date information about diving Sipadan, talk about my time with Borneo Diver’s Mabul as well as discuss other diving options and talk about Mabul Island in general.
There’s quite a lot to cover. I want to try and explain the whole process of diving Sipadan and briefly talk about the dives as well.
I spent five days and four nights at Borneo Divers Mabul Resort, with:
6 dives at Sipadan.
4 dives around Mabul.
1 dive at Kapalai.
I saw plenty of turtles, reef sharks, jackfish, barracuda, bumphead parrotfish, moray eels and a lot of smaller macro life around Mabul and Kapalai.
So let’s get into it.
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Guide to Diving Sipadan Island Video
To get a much clearer understanding of the wildlife, the layout of the reef and the whole Mabul island experience – check out the below video.
It serves as a one hour guide to Sipadan and my experiences with a Sipadan Island 5D4N tour with Mabul Diver’s Resort.
Guide to Diving Sipadan Island
The diving takes care of itself when you get here, but here is some background information on Sipadan for those who are unsure what it is, where it is, why it’s highly regarded or how to dive Sipadan.
What Makes Sipadan Island Special?
Sipadan has a reputation as one of the best scuba-diving destinations in the world.
This tiny island off the southeast coast of Sabah rises around 600 metres from the seabed on top of a volcanic cone.
In fact, it is even more impressive than that at different parts of the island, but that 600m drop is a dive site called drop off which occurs right at the beach. You can walk out to it, it’s insane.
Unlike nearby Mabul and Kapalai, which sit on the relatively shallow continental shelf, Sipadan rises almost vertically from deep water in the Celebes Sea.
That underwater topography is a large part of what makes diving here so impressive.
There are vertical walls disappearing into the blue, huge schools of fish, an extraordinary number of turtles and regular encounters with reef sharks.
Barracuda Point is famous for the huge rotating school of barracuda commonly referred to as the barracuda tornado, other impressive sights include schooling jackfish and bumphead parrotfish.
The channel between the mainland and the island is about 1km deep and there are even deeper points found around other sides of the island.
Add to that the awesome marine life, the nice warm tropical water and a chance to see Hammerhead sharks and it’s no wonder Sipadan is high up on a lot of diver’s lists.
Where Is Sipadan Island?
Sipadan Island is located off the south-east coast of Malaysian Borneo, see below for where it is in the wider region.
The below image shows where it is with a touch more detail, you can see the town of Semporna on the map – this is where you will depart from to get out to Sipadan Island. But you won’t be staying on Sipadan Island.
There is no accommodation on Sipadan Island, there hasn’t been for decades.
Sipadan Island is best visited by staying on Mabul Island which can be seen below. Mabul Island is about 26km in a straight line from Semporna.
Then it’s 15 km away from Sipadan Island. So this is the nearest place to Sipadan you can stay. Alternative accommodation options will be discussed later in the guide to diving Sipadan Island.
Why Stay on Mabul Island?
Mabul is the main accommodation base for many people diving Sipadan. Unlike Sipadan, it has resorts and a permanent local community.
There has been no tourist accommodation on Sipadan itself since the resorts there were closed in 2004 as part of efforts to protect the island.
Mabul therefore gives you the advantage of staying relatively close to Sipadan while also having excellent diving immediately around the island, albeit a different style of diving.
Sipadan is about walls, sharks, turtles and large schools of fish.
Mabul is more for muck diving and macro life, including frogfish, nudibranchs, ghost pipefish, moray eels, lionfish and other small or unusual species living around sandy bottoms, artificial structures and reef patches.
Borneo Diver’s Mabul Resort Pier.
Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).
You can organise Sipadan diving while staying in Semporna as well.
I personally would prefer to be on the islands – either Mabul or Kapalai.
The biggest advantage is the shorter boat trip, if you’re only doing 1 day at Sipadan this won’t matter too much, but if you do multiple days it will all add up.
From Mabul, my two journeys to Sipadan took 28 minutes in better conditions and 45 minutes when the channel was rough.
If you’re travelling from Semporna, you have considerably farther to go each way and even a trip in good conditions would be an hour at least. Also, Semporna is pretty dirty and doesn’t offer much.
Staying on Mabul or Kapalai you are basically staying on a dive site as well, so you have unlimited free house dives with a buddy outside of your normal diving schedule.
The whole setup is based around diving. The packup is quick and simple, there are no transfers anywhere once you’re at the resort you’re home, free to relax.
I personally wouldn’t want to stay in Semporna.
Hot to Get to Mabul Island
Tawau Airport is the closest airport and all of the dive packages with any provider will provide pickup and drop off to this airport or just in Semporna if you make your own way there.
I came overland from Lahad Datu after doing a Danum Valley 4D3N tour and was already in Semporna, but on the way home got dropped off at Tawau airport.
From Tawau, you travel by road to Semporna and then by speedboat from Semporna to Mabul.
I spent one night in Semporna after my Danum Valley tour so that I could take the morning boat to Mabul.
My hotel pickup was at 9:30 and we reached the Borneo Divers office and jetty area only a few minutes later.
There are shops nearby and a shopping centre across the road, so if you arrive early there are places to grab food, coffee or anything you’ve forgotten.
Our boat left at 10:00.
I was the only passenger, but it had other food and water supplies for the island as well.
With calm conditions, the journey to Mabul took only 35 minutes. That’s slightly faster than the roughly 45-minute journey commonly quoted from Semporna.
I won’t discuss all boat transfer times in this guide to diving Sipadan Island as it is dependant on who you book with but generally speaking there is a morning transfer and an afternoon transfer for those arriving late.
Check in with your accommodation provider when booking to make sure you know the times. The same applies on the way off the island, they will organise a transfer depending on whether you have flights to catch and who else is transferring out that day etc.
Fire Dart-Fish.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
How Much Does It Cost to Dive Sipadan?
Costs vary depending on length of stay and dive provider as well as how many days you do at Sipadan compared to diving around Mabul and Kapalai.
I can’t cover everything, but I will go over what my costs were.
Borneo Diver’s Mabul 5D4N with 2 days at Sipadan:
5,620 MYR / $1,987 AUD
Gear rental (fins, BCD, regulator, mask, westuit):
496 MYR / $175 AUD
That’s what I paid in August 2026 and that was the twin share rate.
Normally I would pay a single occupancy surcharge since I travel alone, but since tourism was dipping at Sipadan Island I managed to get a good deal to get me through the door.
Who Is the Best Dive Provider to Dive Sipadan?
I couldn’t possibly answer this without having tried them all. I can say that I enjoyed who I dived with and would book with them again without hesitation.
For reference though, here are all the dive providers that I am aware of on Mabul and Kapalai islands and the links will take you to their official websites. I haven’t listed operators from Semporna.
Cheapest
Mid-range
Upper Mid
Premium
Most luxurious
Scuba junkies are the only ones who will offer a hostel style room to save on costs. Generally speaking the accommodation and resort will not be as nice and the food perhaps more repetitive but perfectly fine for your stay.
Seaventures is unique in that it’s on a converted offshore platform (you’ll see photos in this post) and with Borneo Diver’s Mabul fills that mid-range level.
Above that are a few more options, definitely going to cost more but I haven’t stayed at them so can’t comment on them. Note that Mabul Water Bungalows and Sipadan Mabul Resort are run by the same place, but are two different branches of the same resort.
The diving won’t be better or worse for where you book. The only differentiator in that sense would be the quality of the house reef.
Although some places may come in at the mid-range or upper mid – every dive provider will have different levels of accommodation within their resort, so check the links out to make a more informed decision about where you stay.
Seaventures Dive Rig.
Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 (Amazon/eBay link).
Sipadan Permits
Diving Sipadan requires a daily permit issued by Sabah Parks.
This is all organised through the accommodation and dive provider. Most packages, generally speaking, will offer a gauranteed day at Sipadan Island if you stay for 5 nights or more. However you can also get dive days at Sipadan with 4 day packages.
This page gives a rough breakup of how the permits are split up between the different dive operators each day. There are 254 scuba dive permits available amongst the dive shops.
Take that with a grain of salt. The businesses are all moving permits around behind the scenes to make it all make sense logistically, so those 254 permits do get shared around if another dive operator has no need for them.
During periods of less demand you can get more days diving at Sipadan if the permits are going unused by others, you just need to ask at your resort and they will add you to a queue if there is one or just arrange it straight away if there are plenty to spare.
My Sipadan Island 5D4N tour was only advertised with 1x day of Sipadan Island diving but I got 2x days at Sipadan since tourism was low and there were spares. This was all agreed at booking stage, I didn’t need to ask when I got there.
Don’t assume you will get the same as me though, always double check because in busy seasons it may not be possible to get extra days.
You will need to cover the cost of any extra Sipadan days that weren’t covered in the original package pricing. Each day of diving is $100 USD or 300 MYR and gives you 3x dives for the day at Sipadan Island.
This is new as of about May 2026. A permit used to give you 2 dives, now you get 3. People were complaining about the value for money and the government changed it to try get people back to Sipadan.
You also need to have Advanced Open Water to dive at Sipadan Island.
Dive Sites Map
Here are the dive site maps for all of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai islands.
Sipadan Island Dive Sites Map
I am not going to cover all of the dive sites here because I haven’t dived them all and I have only dived once. I think much better information can be found online through the dive providers about each site.
But here is a map showing the layout and orientation of Sipadan Island and its dive sites to help you understand later when they’re mentioned in the guide to diving Sipadan Island.
Mabul Island Dive Sites Map
Mabul has a number of dive sites, most are more of a sandy bottom with calm conditions that you can manouvre yourself around in.
But there are some drift dives as well depending on where you are and the conditions.
Kapalai Island Dive Sites Map
Kapalai also has more macro diving with generally calm conditions. See below for a map of the dive sites around Kapalai, I have only dived at Mandarin Garden/Valley area.
When Can You Dive Sipadan?
Sipadan is open all year round except for the month of November when it is closed to help keep the health of the ecosystem intact.
I visited in July, which would generally be one of the busier seasons. From April – October tends to be the busier sort of period, but it can be dived all year round. Jan/Feb is also the Chinese New Year which can see bookings surge.
See this post from Scuba Junkie for some more details (or this one). Just remember that nothing is ever guaranteed. They say Feb-June and then Sep-Dec is best for sea conditions and visibility.
I was there in July and had overcast conditions with quite low visibility, but other people will go in July and have sunny days with another 10m more visibility than I had.
It’s just the luck of the draw sometimes.
Sunrise from the pier.
Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).
Sipadan Island 5D4N Tour Overview
In this section of the guide to diving Sipadan Island I want to break down my experiences to a day-by-day rundown of what went down, which dive sites we visited etc.
I am going to keep it brief, for a better understanding of the dive sites check out the video guide to diving Sipadan Island at the top of this post.
I had booked a 5D4N Sipadan Island dive package with Borneo Diver’s Mabul.
After arriving on Mabul at 10:30, I was shown around the diving facilities by my guide who would be taking me through the introductory dives on the house reef.
The first day involves these two introductory dives for the guides to assess your air consumption, bouyancy and more importantly for you to try out your rental gear to figure out sizing and faults.
Before the dives though, after the introduction at the pier you are handed over to the resort side of the operation to do check in and get your room.
Day 1 – Introductory Dives on Mabul
My first two dives were both from the Borneo Divers house reef, also known as Paradise 1 and Paradise 2.
The first started at 13:30 and the second at roughly 15:30 with a one hour rest in between.
Each was around 45 minutes, regardless of air consumption you come up after about 45 minutes to maintain healthy dive times on your dive computer for future dives.
I was glad we did them – both as a pleasant surprise with what we saw but also for the chance to try out the gear.
My mask was a poor fit on the first dive and I changed it for a much better one to suit my face moving forward. I would have hated to have had to deal with it for a full day at Sipadan so it’s good to fix things before you get there.
Dive 1 – Paradise 2
I was pleasantly surprised by the house reef.
There are artificial and sunken structures across the sandy bottom, including old boats and frames that have become habitat for fish.
I saw ghost pipefish, nudibranchs, crocodilefish, turtles and a surprisingly large school of fish.
Visibility wasn’t particularly good.
Dive 2 – Paradise 1
The second dive went in the opposite direction and wasn’t quite as interesting, although I saw another turtle resting on the sunken structures and an absolutely enormous batfish beside it.
A gentle pair of dives was a pretty good way to begin the trip and since it was my first dive in a year or so a good familiarisation again with diving.
Day 2 – First Sipadan Dive Day
I was actually hoping to do Sipadan for my last two dive days, but they had already set the permits for today so I was heading straight to Sipadan on my first full day of diving.
The Sipadan boat departs at 06:00, you need to be up early and have all of your dive gear ready to put it onto the boat. You will get a yellow tub to keep it all in so it’s no hassle, just get it out of storage for the dive masters to pack onto the boat.
Our crossing was slightly choppy and heavily overcast but took around half an hour.
Once you reach Sipadan, you initially go ashore to complete the permit registration. You don’t need to have brought anything, the dive provider organises it and you just sign a bit of paper.
Dive 1 – Coral Gardens
There was a gentle drift and we followed the reef around the island and which changed directions part way through the dive.
Visibility was still low, not just because it was overcast but the water itself had a lot of nutrients and we could only see about 15 metres. We saw sharks, but knew many more were out there out of sight.
The topography of the island is insane, I loved looking down beneath me and seeing the island drop vertically into the blue abyss, like a tower, no slope.
We saw reef sharks and plenty of fish, although visibility was still limiting how much I could see out in the blue.
Looking straight down, a vertical wall as far as you can see!
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Breakfast on Sipadan
On days when you dive at Sipadan Island you do not get breakfast at the resort, you depart before then, do your first dive, then go onto the island where some food is served.
The breakfast on Sipadan days is not amazing, but it’s fine, it’s not really the point it’s just to have some energy, a tea or coffee and do your surface time.
Between every single dive you will come back to Sipadan Island for the interval to relax and have snacks.
Dive 2 – Staghorn Crest
Our second dive was Staghorn Crest.
This was another wall-style dive but with very little current during my visit.
I saw more sharks, some barracuda and a large pufferfish at the end of the dive. It’s kind of hard to explain the dives, much better to do it than to read about it.
Grey Reef Sharks swim out in the blue.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Dive 3 – Barracuda Point
Barracuda Point is often seen as one of Sipadan’s signature dive sites, where current over the reef can attract large schools of fish as well as grey reef sharks, barracuda and other predators.
The famous barracuda tornado is something most people come here to see, but I never saw it throughout my entire trip. I saw Barracuda, just not schooling Barracuda.
We did find schooling jackfish, a large unicornfish and a lone bumphead parrotfish deeper below us.
Barracuda Point and a pointy Barracuda.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
After the final dive
On days when you’re diving at Sipadan you will return to the resort for lunch, on this day we got back at about 12:30.
Then you have the rest of the day free to relax by the pool, use the gym, get a massage, walk around Mabul, do free dives, chill on the pier or whatever else you can think of.
Day 3 – Diving Mabul and Kapalai
Day 3 they had lined me up to go back to Sipadan but I asked to make Sipadan my final dive day. So today was around Mabul island and Kapalai island about 6km away.
With these dive sites being so close the way the day is run is different, the first dive is 08:30 so you can have breakfast before diving. The final dive will be about 15:00 so the day is spread out more.
Our first dive was at Kapalai, only around ten minutes by boat from Mabul.
Despite usually being called Kapalai Island, it isn’t really an island in the normal sense anymore.
The original island has eroded to the point that Kapalai is essentially a sandbank and reef system, with the resort constructed on stilts above the water.
Like Mabul, Kapalai is particularly well known for macro and muck diving. There are sunken structures just off the side of the resorts stilts and pylons, all of which help attract marine life.
Nemo and Marlin.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Dive 1 – Mandarin Garden, Kapalai
Our first site was Mandarin Garden.
The bottom was predominantly sandy with artificial structures scattered around the site, creating hiding places for smaller marine life.
This was a proper macro dive, with a gigantic moray eel thrown in for good measure.
We saw ghost pipefish, crocodilefish, lionfish and nudibranchs, along with a school of rabbitfish farther away.
If this thing came out it would have been gigantic to witness.
Dive 2 – SeaVentures Rig
Our second dive was directly underneath the SeaVentures Dive Rig beside Mabul.
I saw some very large lionfish but unfortunately missed the giant moray eel that was apparently known around the site.
This dive has a flat sandy bottom, there are a lot of lion fish, stone fish, crocodile fish and things like that swimming around. I liked it.
SeaVentures is only a very short boat ride from Borneo Divers, so after the dive we were back at the resort almost immediately for lunch.
The Lion King.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Dive 3 – Mabul Nudibranch Centre
Our final dive of the day was Nudibranch Centre on Mabul.
This was a drift dive.
The current wasn’t extreme but I find it annoying when you’re in two groups but one person from the group in front keeps swimming against the current to look at stuff and everyone else has to wait for them as the two groups get mixed up.
We saw several turtles, a moray eel and a frogfish, along with plenty of other small animals that the guide pointed to that I couldn’t actually see.
Day 4 – Second Sipadan Day
Day 4 was my final diving day and my dives were at Sipadan Island.
The water was choppy on the crossing, very choppy. It took 45 minutes just to get to the island which was a lot longer than last time.
The conditions also affected where we could dive with a lot of the dive sites out of action with the big swells.
Dive 1 – Barracuda Point
Our first dive was Barracuda Point.
I really wanted to see the Barracuda tornado but I was not lucky enough to see it on my entire trip, we did see some Bumphead Parrotfish though in the shallows before we descended.
I liked seeing those as well.
Bumphead Parrotfish – unfortunately no school of them.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Dive 2 – Turtle Patch
The second dive was Turtle Patch.
There were so many turtles, it was hard to keep count.
Turtles hid in crevices, turtles feeding, turtles sleeping, turtles that departed the wall as we drifted by to head for the surface. It was pretty cool to see, I have never seen such a concentration of them before.
I thought this turtle was going to swim into me by accident, it got super close like it never saw me.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Dive 3 – Drop Off, Turtle Tomb and Barracuda Point
My final Sipadan dive ended up being my favourite of the entire trip.
We entered at Drop Off, followed the wall towards Turtle Tomb, and eventually continued around until we were at Barracuda Point.
Drop Off is one of Sipadan’s best dive sites.
You can stand on the beach, enter the water and very quickly find yourself beside the wall plunging hundreds of metres into the blue, with a wall of reef beside you. Crazy to think this column just extends up to the surface without fanning out at all.
The Turtle Tomb, also commonly called Turtle Cavern, was even more impressive. I couldn’t believe that the island I was standing on for breakfast was basically undercut beneath my feet with a large cave cutting into the already small footprint of the island.
You can’t enter the cave itself on normal diving tours, you need special permissions, training etc.
The topography of the dive was incredible, somehow even more so than the other parts of the island, which are more incredible in their own right than most other dive sites anywhere in the world.
There were large turtles moving through the area and several sharks came considerably closer than they had on some of my previous dives.
Visibility was still poor, but that kind of helped here, adding to the mystique of the cave and the towering rock overhang above my head. The wall and cave mouth simply disappeared into darkness.
We eventually continued towards Barracuda Point and saw a couple of individual barracuda and various schools of other fish in the shallows. This dive had everything (except a Barracuda tornado).
These two cruised past in the currents very close to us.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
No more dives
That was it for me, my final dive and it was my favourite of the entire trip. Due to the rough seas we got back to the resort shortly after 13:00, still enough time to get lunch at the resort.
Some final Barracuda as we did our safety stop at Barracuda point, but no tornado for me.
Day 5 – Mabul to Semporna and Tawau Airport
For me, with a flight to catch today, there was no diving.
If you are simply transferring to Semporna or elsewhere with an overland transfer than you can discuss with the resort your own diving schedule for the day.
Checkout was at 10am and the boat was scheduled for 11am for me, but this was because of my outbound flight time. There is also a later transfer out as well.
The seas were calm and the trip took 42 minutes from Mabul back to Semporna, with some awesome storm clouds also visible over distant islands, but we avoided the rain.
Back in Semporna I had enough time to grab some food and coffee before leaving by road at 11:56
We reached Tawau Airport at 13:13, making the road transfer 1 hour 17 minutes.
And that was the end of five days on Mabul.
Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).
Mabul & Sipadan FAQS & Extra Info
This section of the guide to diving Sipadan Island aims to cover any remaining questions about the diving, my enjoyment, what you do on your down time and the island of Mabul.
Borneo Divers Mabul Resort
To me Borneo Diver’s Resort felt quite premium, I was surprised to read later that it was considered mid-range for the islands. My room was massive, with views over the pool, two very comfortable beds and a big bathroom.
It is only now as I write this post and look back over the welcome pack in my emails that I see I was in a luxury villa. See the mud map below for the resort layout.
I was so happy to get the twin share rate that I didn’t even look at what room I was in, so my prices listed at the top of the guide to diving Sipadan Island might be cheaper still for people booking Standard Room.
There’s a good-sized swimming pool, restaurant, bar, small gym, massage facilities, reading and games areas and a large dive jetty.
The meals are buffet style meals and the food was good, not as good as I had during my time at Borneo Rainforest Lodge but I found the food to be pretty good overall.
However there is no good coffee anywhere in the resort, just drip coffee.
Wi-Fi was only in the main building, not in the rooms at the time of writing but I had 4G reception with my eSIM in my room.
The resort’s current guest information also lists kayaking, table tennis, beach volleyball, massage services, snorkeling and other activities for anybody who doesn’t want to spend every spare hour underwater.
There is a gym but I didn’t use it since it’s not recommended for divers generally speaking.
The Borneo Divers Pier
That’s the resort side, the beach side. Once you go through the security gate to the resort you are walking out onto the jetty/pier.
Each dive operator or resort has their own pier, with only guests allowed to go out onto it.
This is where your dive boats depart, rental equipment is organised and gear is stored between dives. There is a small store selling snacks, drinks, log books, t-shirts etc and there is a diver’s bar about halfway along open in the afternoons.
There are freshwater rinse tubs, equipment racks, showers, toilets, a camera room with charging areas and places to sit between dives.
All of your gear is stored in a tub on the pier and your wetsuit or clothes hung up. Then you just grab it and take it to the boat before each dive and rinse it afterwards.
I spent every afternoono here watching the sunset, see the video for the time lapse results at the end of each day. I loved the afternoons on the pier. On the days that you aren’t at Sipadan, or your final day with no dives, you can also see the sunrise from the other direction.
Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).
What Do You Do on Mabul Between Dives?
All of your free time will be spent at your resort, unless you decide to walk around the island.
The island isn’t big and there isn’t much to see, more on that in a bit.
Your resort will offer free house dives as long as you have a buddy. Besides that you will need to read a book, use the gym, swim in the pool, nap, use the games or common rooms, doomscroll, get a massage or whatever.
The village of Mabul as seen from the resort’s 2nd storey.
Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).
What Didn’t I See at Sipadan?
I saw basically everything that I wanted to see with a few exceptions. I won’t list every animal I saw, it will be quicker to list what I didn’t see and why I want to come back.
I saw Barracuda, but I want to see a big Barracuda tornado.
I saw Bumphead Parrotfish, but I want to see the schooling.
I saw sharks: Blacktip, Whitetip and Gray Reef sharks, but no Hammerheads.
Those are the three things I want to come back and see.
Walking Around Mabul Island
I’ll keep this brief, because the walk was brief.
The walk around the island will be 20 minutes if you don’t stop, but will probably take you about half an hour.
In the afternoons it is overrun with kids, try going for a walk before 15:30 to get a better experience of some kids, but not all the kids.
The kids are friendly, they play soccer, jump rope and other games in the street. There are some small shops, but it’s not a town for tourists, it’s just their local village.
The other resorts have their own security gates, so you’re limited in what you can see. Go for a walk one day to check it out but don’t expect much, it’s not designed for your enjoyment.
In the afternoons the streets are full of kids playing – This was a relatively quiet time before the young kids got out of school.
Typical 5D4N Sipadan Itinerary
The basic version of the itinerary worked out like this:
Day 1: Transfer from Semporna to Mabul + 2 introductory dives.
Day 2: 3 dives.
Day 3: 3 dives.
Day 4: 3 dives.
Day 5: No diving + transfer to Tawau Airport
That gave me 11 dives in total.
This can be changed depending on when your flights are. If you are transferring to Semporna but don’t fly until the last day you can try and sneak in some dives on day 5.
The Sipadan Island 5D4N diving tour I booked only had the 1 day of Sipadan, but I got an extra day added, which meant 1 day of Mabul and Kapalai and 2 days at Sipadan.
If you want extra Sipadan says ask early, just remember it will cost more, you will need to get up early, you aren’t guaranteed any animal sightings and you’re not gauranteed to get extra permit allocation either if it’s super busy.
But it’s amazing.
Is a 5D4N Sipadan Package Long Enough?
Here are some things to consider regarding your trip length
- How expensive is it for you to get to Sipadan?
- Are you likely to ever come back?
- What is your budget?
- How hard is it for you to come back?
- Are you crazy about diving?
If you’re doing this as a once in a lifetime thing and chances are you will never make it back then I’d be trying to get as many dives as possible at Sipadan since you’ve made the effort of travelling there.
I am not a crazy scuba fanatic, I have done about 55 dives, so for me any block of 10-15 dives is a lot and I am normally ready for a break after that. But if you froth it, you might be happy to punch out 20 dives.
I would recommend trying to get 2x Sipadan days if you’ve travelled a long way to make the most of it. If you’re from Singapore or Malaysia or Thailand it’s not a major hassle to get back but those from the US, Europe etc it would be a big journey just to get here.
Of course it all depends on your budget.
Is Sipadan Worth It?
Yes.
Although I had probably worse luck than most without the big schools of fish, with poor visibility between 10-20m depending on the dives, I still loved it and can see why it’s so highly rated.
Some places can provide value with just the topography and this is one of them, although the abundance of turtles, the morays, stingrays, nudibranches, multiple species of reef sharks, barracuda and bumphead parrotfish all make it an awesome place.
The diving around Mabul and Kapalai is awesome as well, although Sipadan is just the next level above.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Would I Stay on Mabul Again?
Yes.
I want to dive Sipadan again and I will stay on Mabul or Kapalai when I do it. I would hate to be in Semporna.
I don’t know if I will try a different resort or the same one. It will all depend on availability for me since I tend to book things last minute – which is not recommended for Borneo in general.
Shot on the GoPro Hero 12 Black (Amazon).
Summary
Yeah so that ends the guide to diving Sipadan Island.
Any questions then feel free to comment on the Youtube video, you will get a response that way, I never check this website’s comments.
Thanks.